The former Olympic and world time trial champion's time of 14 minutes and 30 seconds was 23 seconds ahead of Evelyn Stevens of HTC-Highroad. Riders from those two teams rounded out the top five, with Alison Starnes and Kristin McGrath (both of Peanut Butter & Co. TWENTY12) in third and fifth, respectively, and former world time trial champion Amber Neben (HTC-Highroad) in fourth.

“There’s something about the energy of Minneapolis and St. Paul, and I love the Nature Valley Race,” said Armstrong, who won the Nature Valley Grand Prix four years in a row before taking a brief retirement last year to give birth to her first child. “I see people that I’ve seen for years. There’s something about coming back to a race and feeling comfortable in the community and the environment and with my team, Peanut Butter & Co. TWENTY12. The girls are like family, so it allows me to have balance now, having a child. There’s not the extra pressures of feeling guilty that I’m not with the team for a few minutes here and there.”

Having had to defend her title sans teammates in the past, Armstrong says she has a strong team to rely on this time around.

“My teammate Alison Starnes is in third, Kristin McGrath is also up there, so I think we have some options,” Armstrong said. “I think that I’m the target, but I don’t always have to be the answer. So I’m willing to play, I think other teams want to play. I know that HTC is out here and they’re going to want to do something. Diadora brought a team, Colavita is here, so we’re going to see some action.”

Rainy conditions resulted in a slightly different range of times than last year when the course was dry. The course included a turnaround, and riders were more cautious on the wet and slippery roads.

Racing in this year’s field are last year’s winner Shelley Olds (Diadora-Pasta Zara-Manhattan) and current world road champion Giorgia Bronzini (Colavita Forno D'Asolo presented by Cooking Light). Olds finished 1:47 back with a time of 16:17, while Bronzini was 1:53 behind in a time of 16:23.

Racing continues Wednesday night with the St. Paul Downtown Criterium, featuring a 1.4 km, six-corner criterium course, featuring two intermediate time bonuses, a finishing time bonus, and three sprint point competitions. Last year, time bonuses from this stage whittled a 23-second gap down to a mere two seconds for eventual overall winner Olds.